Checking supplements

The risks of nutritional supplements

Athletes are strongly advised to be very cautious if they choose to take any supplement such as vitamin tablets, energy drinks, or sport-nutrition formulas. This is because there is no guarantee that any supplement is free from banned substances.

All athletes are advised to:

assess the need to use supplements by seeking advice from a medical professional or nutritionist on their need to use supplement products

assess the risks associated with supplements and undertake thorough research of all supplement products they are considering taking

assess the consequences to their careers – they could receive a four-year ban

before making a decision to use supplements.

However, supplement risks can be reduced by:

undertaking thorough internet research

only using batch-tested products

checking on Informed-Sport (which is a risk minimisation programme) that the supplement has been batch tested